Japanese Nanban Tsuba, or ... ?

[Yves55]

I recently bought a mistreated wakizashi at a live auction.

You will ask why I bought it... Well, the tsuba intrigued me

Shortly I'll send pictures of the tang (Hizen Ju Musashi Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro) and the Fuchi (signed 'Goto ...') & Kashira.

 

The question now is "Is the tsuba Japanese or not" !

I am looking forward to your replies 🧐

 

Dimensions: 7,07 x 6,75 x 0,47 cm  - Seppa-dai:  3,75 x 1,86 > 2,02 cm

Weight: 73 gr.

 

[kissakai]

Looks 100% Namban. Is that a scalloped edge?

 

 

[Yves55]

Hey Grev,

 

Another picture:

 

 

[GRC]

As Grev said, 100% Nanban.

I'd also like to add that Nanban is a style whose influences come predominantly from Chinese and some European (Portuguese and Dutch) motifs.

It was really popular for a while in Edo Japan, and there were schools producing Nanban-style tsuba in multiple locations throughout Japan.

 

The question of "where" yours was made gets trickier...

I'm leaning towards made in Japan because of the flat seppa-dai and the degree of carvings and hand chiseling.

 

On the other hand,

that "boxy-shaped" cartouche-shaped seppa-dai is more of Chinese-style. 

Also, I read that Chinese favoured two directional cross-hatching to do their gold overlays, whereas the Japanese preferred to use 3 directions of cross-hatching.

I can't tell from the images, but you can certainly have a look at yours up close to find out  

 

So that's why it's hard to say for sure, because your tsuba has evidence for either origin.

Maybe it was made in Japan with the intent of selling to either a Japanese or overseas buyer... something for everyone?

[Yves55]

Thank you Glen. Here's the cross-hatching:

 

[GRC]

Yves, I did a bit (OK a lot) more digging...  

 

Here are some key points from Lissenden's Namban a Reappraisal (I sure have been referencing his work a lot lately lol)

http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4129/1/4129_1648.pdf

 

1- Flat seppa-dai are more likely to be from earlier Chinese imports.

***note that this differs from my initial statement in my earlier post that was just based off of "memory", so I wrongly placed that in the "points for Japan" section.

 

2- The relatively simple oval or rectangular seppa-dai is also more likely to be earlier and Chinese (correct, in earlier post)

3- The symmetrical design is more likely to be Chinese (new detail)

4- The beaded mimi was likely a Japanese embellishment that was added onto their copies of the earlier Chinese imports (new detail)

5- Improvements to the undercutting & carving developed in Japan. (correct, in earlier post)

 

6- Chinese overlay work usually uses two directional cross-hatching, whereas the Japanese use more. (correct, in earlier post)

*I found the source: James McElhinney, who wrote a book and the article: Asian Export Sword Guards  and has a facebook page with the same title. 

 

Then there's this categorization of Nanban guards by "Mandarin Mansion": https://www.mandarinmansion.com/article/nanban-tsuba 

 

So in summary, you've got 5 reasons to say it's Chines, and one reason to say it's Japanese...

My best guess is that it falls under category "2b": Made for the Japanese market, by a Chinese maker living in Japan.  

 

OK, I'm done now...

 

 

[Yves55]

Hi Glen,

 

I suspected something like that.

I completely agree with your result.

That is also the reason I put "..., or..." in the title.

Thanks for the research.👍🏻

 

Greetings, Yves.

[Bugyotsuji]

Good Namban clinic happening here folks! 

[GRC]

I've been looking at some of the older Chinese guards and noticed that quite a few have beaded rims, so I did a bit more digging and found this quote:

"A beaded rim is a design directly copied from 18th-century Chinese sword guards. The beading is a reference to similar beading seen on the base of Buddhist statues."

https://www.mandarinmansion.com/item/Japanese-tsuba-canton-style 

 

So, scratch point number 4 from the list of criteria to look for!

On 1/28/2022 at 4:52 PM, GRC said:

4- The beaded mimi was likely a Japanese embellishment that was added onto their copies of the earlier Chinese imports (new detail)

The beaded rim was on both Chinese and Japanese Nanban guards, but originated in China.

In either case it doesn't help distinguish WHERE a tsuba was made, it just tells us that it has more of a Chinese influence in its style.

 

[Yves55]

Hey Glen,

Thanks for your new post.

The hitsu-ana in the tsuba shown in https://www.mandarinmansion.com/item/Japanese-tsuba-canton-style are cut out later on.

In mine, the tsuba design is made with hitsu-ana, without their usual form.

The Seppa-Dai is not decorated and the cut corners of the Seppa-Dai leans towards the normal oval 'Japanese' form.

For me, the only thing not Japanese is maybe the way the gold is added (2 in stead of 3-way).

By the way, are hitsu-ana a typical Japanese feature?

 

A picture with another background:

 

 

[GRC]

Hi Yves.

Hitsu-ana are definitely a Japanese feature to accommodate the kozuka and kogai implements that slide into the sides of the Japanese saya (sheath).

 

Your hitsu appear to be original to the design and not added later but cutting through the existing design, which suggests it was definitely made for the Japanese market.

There are lots of Japanese-made tsuba with "free form" hitsu that follow the outline of the design, rather than conforming to the typical oval and three-lobed hitsu. 

 

The flat surface of the seppa-dai suggests it was made with the intent of being mounted and used on a blade, rather than being a tsuba with a very elaborately carved seppa-dai. The more elaborate ones were more likely to be gifted and potentially displayed rather than be mounted and used on a blade. A lot of the elaborate ones have no tegane-ato (punch marks), suggesting they were never mounted on a blade.

Japanese-made Nanban tsuba could have either type of seppa-dai.

 

I read on Mandarin Mansion, that the octagonal shaped seppa-dai is more of a Vietnamese style (rectangular is Chinese, oval is Japanese).

Also, what appears to be a golden "spear head shape" at the bottom is likely a simplified visual reference to a specific mountain region in Southern China.

The double dragon and pearl motif itself is Chinese in origin but was very popular in Japan so it was produced in both China and Japan.

There is definitely a variety of "pan-Asian" influences in this tsuba, but it was almost certainly made specifically for the Japanese market.

 

PS. that's a much nicer picture and really shows off the tsuba  The dragons are nicely carved in 3D 

Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Spartancrest]

 

Bloody branding    

[GRC]

Dale, if my initials are on it, does that mean I get to have it?  

[Spartancrest]

Sure Glen, but you will have to change your first name to Peter, Phillip or Phineas - unless you are holding out for Paisley?

Then you will get a lot of mail misdirected from the Peoples republic of China [who might sue you for copyright infringement even though they don't believe in copyright from other countries themselves.] 

[Yves55]

5 hours ago, GRC said:

Dale, if my initials are on it, does that mean I get to have it?  

Is this Namban tsuba 'that' good...?  

[Yves55]

No initials on the backside 😅

But... what is the front or backside on this tsuba? 🤔

[Spartancrest]

"what is the front or backside on this tsuba? "

Yves, very good question! At a guess it may not have mattered for this namban.

But once it was mounted, which side might we expect to see a little more wear? On the tsuka side from hand contact when in use [seldom] or the saya side from left hand gripping the sword to keep it in place?  Very good question indeed.

 [and I think your namban is "that good" but I am not changing my initials! ]

[GRC]

Other "tells" for which side is front/back when a sword is worn "katana-style" like in the pictures Dale posted above (where the cutting edge of the blade faces upward):

1- The presence of Tagane-ato (punch marks) would be on the nakago (tang) side of the blade, so that the tsuba's nakago-ana could be "pinched" tight to the nakago of the sword.

Yours doesn't have any punch marks, so it's possible that it was never mounted "properly" on a sword.

 

2- The Hitsu-ana shapes are also usually a giveaway: the "oval-shaped" kozuka-hitsu-ana closer to the body when worn, and the "cloud-shaped" kogai-hitsu-ana on the outside, But, yours are pretty much the same shape, so no help there.

 

3- The side with the "most decoration" faces outward when worn.

In this regard, I'd say the pic below is the side that should face outward when worn, ie. should face towards the tsuka (handle):

I only say that because the head and neck of the dragons are more "prominent" and clear on this side, whereas some of the karakusa vines cross over their necks on the other side.

But really, it doesn't matter that much since yours is pretty symmetrical left/right and very similar front/back.

I don't think most people would notice either way, so don't sweat it 

 

And by the way, when you combine points 1 and 3 for tsuba that were mounted on a katana or wakizashi, then the "fancier side" should have the majority of the tagane-ato (punch marks).

You sometimes see older tsuba that have a few punch marks on on the other side too, because they were re-fitted to different swords a few times.